Inside Porsche Club of America Driving Tours: Why They are So Popular With Members
Porsche Club Insider
Inside Porsche Club of America Driving Tours: Why They are So Popular With Members
Porsche Club Insider · Jul 20, 2026
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Car
1980 Porsche 911 SC Targa
This is a specific older Porsche 911 called the 911 SC, and it’s air-cooled. “Targa” is a body style that lets you enjoy open-air driving while still having safety structure around the cabin.
Term
air cooled
“Air cooled” means the engine is cooled mainly by air flowing around it, not by coolant running through a radiator. Older Porsches like this one are known for that design.
Brand
Pirelli
Pirelli makes tires. The point here is that their tires are designed to help cars stick to the road and feel safe, especially when driving hard.
Term
grip
Grip is how well the tire can “hold” the road. More grip usually means the car stops, turns, and accelerates more confidently.
Term
noiselessness
Noiselessness means the tire is designed to be quieter while you drive. That can make long trips more pleasant.
Topic
test drive program
The test drive program is a structured way for non-owners to experience Porsche driving without committing to ownership first. In the context of PCA, it functions as a member-engagement funnel that helps people learn what Porsche ownership feels like.
Topic
Porsche Parade
Porsche Parade is a PCA club event where members get together and do organized driving and activities. It’s one of the bigger things the club runs.
Concept
driving skill grouping
On these tours, people aren’t all thrown together at the same speed. They’re sorted by skill level so the ride stays fun and safer for everyone.
Concept
club racing requirements
They mention that you may need to meet certain requirements before you can do the more serious racing-style parts of club events. The goal is to make sure drivers are ready for the higher demands.
Concept
rally-style qualifying
They’re saying some people just want a relaxed drive, not the more competitive rally-style part. Rally qualifying is about racing against the clock or earning a position, not cruising.
Concept
group formation planning
Driving by yourself is simple, but leading a bunch of cars requires planning. You have to coordinate timing and spacing so everyone knows what to do next.
Concept
lead car pacing
When you’re leading a group of cars, your driving sets the pace for everyone behind you. If you brake or turn suddenly, the whole line has to react, so the leader has to be extra smooth and careful.
Term
auto cross
Autocross is a driving competition on a course made with cones. You drive your car through the course while other people wait their turn, and it’s a fun way to learn how to control the car.
Concept
driving tours
In Porsche Club of America (PCA) context, driving tours are group road trips where members drive together to scenic destinations. The emphasis is on staying together, following traffic laws, and prioritizing safety over pace.
Term
rules of the road
“Rules of the road” means the normal laws and safety guidelines you’re expected to follow when driving on public streets. The speaker is saying tours are about doing that, not racing.
Term
track
Here, “track” means a closed race course where cars can drive faster more safely. The point is that public roads aren’t set up for that kind of driving.
Term
deer crossing
A “deer crossing” means an animal suddenly runs onto the road. The speaker is using it to explain that you can’t reliably predict hazards on public roads.
Concept
blind corner
A blind corner is a turn where you can’t see what’s around the bend until you’re already committed to entering it. The host uses it to explain why driving fast on side roads is risky—other road users (like kids) may not be visible in time to react safely.
Concept
speed limit
The speed limit is the maximum speed the road allows by law. The host is saying some people have gone faster than allowed during a tour, then decided to slow down and just follow the rules.
Term
PCA way
“PCA way” refers to the culture and norms of the Porsche Club of America, including how members show up early and follow the event flow. In this context, it’s about members arriving ahead of schedule so the organizers can still finish setup.
Term
get stage
“Get stage” here means getting lined up at the start area before the cars go out. People want to be ready early so the tour can leave on time.
Topic
driving run groups
Instead of everyone driving together at once, the tour is divided into smaller groups of cars. That makes it safer and easier to keep traffic under control.
Term
leader and a sweeper
The leader is the car up front that guides the group, and the sweeper is the last car that checks everyone is still together. It helps prevent anyone from getting lost or stuck behind.
Car
Ford Taurus
The Ford Taurus is a regular passenger car, usually a family sedan. It’s designed for everyday driving like commuting and errands. In a podcast, it might be mentioned simply because the name “Taurus” is being used in a conversation about places or brands.
Term
cell service
Cell service is whether your phone can get signal. If there’s no signal, it can be harder to call for help when a car breaks down.
Term
radios
Radios are walkie-talkies that let the tour leaders talk to each other quickly. They’re useful when phone signal is bad.
Term
engine trouble
“Engine trouble” means something is wrong with the car’s engine and it may not run or drive properly. On a trip, it’s handled quickly so the car can be made safe and towed if needed.
Term
hazards
Hazards are the blinking lights that tell other drivers, “This car is stopped or in trouble.” They make it easier for people to see you safely.
Term
flatbed tow truck
A flatbed tow truck is a truck that carries your car on a platform. It’s safer for your car than having it dragged on the road.
Term
Parade of Portions
“Parade of Portions” sounds like the club’s name for a parade-style part of the event. It’s where members and their cars are grouped together as part of the overall tour.
Place
Concord
“Concord” is the stop where the group gets together so you can see lots of Porsches in one place. After that, the cars go off to do different activities.
Place
Boise
Boise is the capital city of Idaho, and it’s referenced here as a Porsche club event location. The speaker describes how the Boise parade and related activities made members feel like they discovered a great town.
Topic
parade of Porsches
This is basically a group show-and-drive: lots of Porsches together, moving through town in an organized line. The point is the big, impressive sight of many cars at once.
Place
Hershey
The speaker credits “Hershey” with helping make the club’s driving tours grow. It’s the name the host uses for the person behind that change.
Term
EV
EVs are cars that run on electricity from a battery, not gasoline. The host is saying Porsche expected everyone would switch to EVs, but that didn’t happen as quickly as planned.
Concept
production ramp-up
A production ramp-up means the factory is making more cars. The host is saying Porsche is increasing 911 production because demand is higher.
Concept
model cut rumor
A “model cut” rumor refers to the possibility that a manufacturer will discontinue or reduce production of certain models. The host says there was earlier a rumor that Porsche (referred to as “BW”) is cutting models, and that the Ticon might be among them.
Car
Volkswagen Bus
The Volkswagen Bus is a van made by Volkswagen that’s known for carrying people and gear comfortably. It has a very recognizable shape, and there are car shows where people gather to celebrate and restore them. If the podcast mentions a “VW bus show,” it’s probably talking about an event for fans of this van.
Person
Frank Young
Frank Young is the person in charge of Porsche’s archives. Here, he’s the historian/presenter sharing rare old Porsche photos with the club.
Car
Porsche 356 SL
The Porsche 356 SL is an early Porsche built for racing. In this segment, they mention it because it’s tied to Le Mans and is considered Porsche’s first race car to win its class there.
Place
Le Mans
Le Mans is a legendary long-distance race in France. It’s known for endurance racing and for cars racing in different categories (classes), not just one winner.
Term
running start
A “running start” means the cars are already moving when the race start happens, instead of sitting still and then launching.
Car
Porsche 914 guide
The Porsche 914 is an older Porsche sports car with an unusual mid-engine design. The hosts are saying they’re working on a guide video about it for Porsche Club members.
Car
Porsche Boxster
The Porsche Boxster (spelled “Boxster” here) is Porsche’s mid-engine roadster line, and it’s a common platform for club racing and autocross. Here, the hosts specifically describe a “spec Boxster” running in a rainy autocross on slick tires, which highlights how the car is being used in motorsport-style conditions.
Term
slicks
Slicks are special race tires that don’t have tread grooves. They can grip extremely well on dry roads, but they’re usually not ideal when it’s raining.
Car
Porsche 997.2 Carrera S PDK
The Porsche 997.2 Carrera S is part of the 911’s 997-generation facelift (often called the “.2” update), and it’s known for refined drivability and performance compared with earlier 997s. “PDK” refers to Porsche’s dual-clutch automatic transmission, and the segment frames this as a specific, well-equipped club test car (including its color).
Term
tape measure
They’re talking about using a tape measure to check real-world dimensions. The idea is that published numbers don’t always match what people assume by sight or feel.
Brand
Gunther Works
Gunther Works is a Porsche specialty shop that does custom work on 911s. The hosts are pointing you to one of their videos for more behind-the-scenes detail.
Person
Peter Nam
Peter Nam is the founder of the shop featured in the tour. The hosts say he personally gave the tour, which is why the video feels unusually detailed.
Term
carbon fiber
Carbon fiber is a strong, lightweight material used in some high-performance car parts. Here, the shop wouldn’t show their exact process because it’s their private know-how.
Term
zone six
PCA organizes members into geographic zones, and “zone six” is one of those regions. When the hosts say zone six does the most driving tours, they’re pointing to where PCA’s driving-tour activity is concentrated.
Term
zone two
“Zone two” is another geographic area within PCA. The hosts bring it up to compare how active different zones are with driving tours.
Term
button gear
“Button gear” appears to refer to PCA’s member “buttons” (pins/badges) and the gear or items associated with collecting or displaying them. In the context, it’s a playful nudge for another zone to step up their participation.
LIVE
Welcome to the Porsche Club Insider, your one stop for all things Porsche and PCA.
Here's your host, Vu Gwin and the Insider Crew.
Well, welcome everybody.
I am alone at the table today as you can see.
Vu Gwin is out of town, but we do have Holly Jackson as our special guest who's calling in.
If you went to parade, you knew Holly.
Everyone knew Holly because everyone I think did driving tours was the most popular event at parade.
But for those of you who don't, she is PCA's national driving tour chair.
And tours are, I would safely say, our most popular event.
At least, I think it's the one we insured most of out of all the events that PCA does.
So Holly, tell us what region you're from.
I'm from the Rocky Mountain region from Colorado.
Okay, that's a perfect background, I guess, for that.
Yeah, it is Colorado.
So how did you get into Porsche's?
So with that, it's kind of interesting.
I always liked to mention the kid, but my godfather was really into Porsche's a lot.
And he was moving and he knew that I liked this one car of his very much.
And he said, how would you like to have it?
I couldn't pass that up.
So I said, yes, definitely.
He goes, all right, well, get it out of here.
You have until this time to get it out of here.
But however you want to do it, get it.
So I had it hauled out to me.
And he was always a Porsche Club member in various regions.
And he said, you should join.
And so I did.
And it just kind of snowballed really from there because we started going to some of the events
and the drives and the social events and trying all across and all these different things.
And and I saw that there was a need for volunteering.
So I started volunteering and here I am today, still volunteering and doing lots of volunteering.
So, yeah, the challenge of never saying no.
People would ask me, how do you become president?
I said, years of never saying no.
And I should have do something.
He's just say, sure.
So what type of Porsche did you get?
I don't think you mentioned it, did you?
No, I did not.
So it is my one of my favorites that I fell in love with as kids.
So nothing can outdo it, but it's an air cooled.
It's a 1980 SC Targa in light in light blue metallic with a black bar.
Awesome. So it's a pretty cool gift.
Yeah, yeah, it was very nice.
And then, you know, after being in the club for a few years
and volunteering and getting my way up onto the board of directors for my region,
my godfather goes, I think I created a monster.
So. But, you know, here we are still going strong.
So, yeah, he would be proud.
Yeah, I would think so, especially what you're doing now.
So I'll take a little break here to thank our presenting sponsor, Pirelli.
Pirelli tires have to achieve the highest levels of performance,
safety, noiselessness and grip on the road surface.
Innovative tires that can satisfy even the most specific mobility needs of the end consumer.
Thank you for listening.
If you're a current PCA member and own a Porsche, what are you waiting for?
Be sure to have your van handy.
And for those of you don't currently own a Porsche, check out the test drive program.
Just go to www.pca.org.
All right, so tell us what does the National Driving Tour Chair do?
What's that job and tale?
A lot of emails, amazingly, a lot of emails.
Every driving tour, I get emails for the insurance requests,
the post event and the observer report.
And so I do a lot of email reading basically
and just monitoring and see how things are going.
Reaching out when needed.
I actually get some brand new driving tours chairs from various regions
that will reach out and ask, hey, you know, we never really had a good driving tour program here.
You know, what should I know? Where can I go?
What do you have to offer me?
And so I'll send them a whole bunch of links and kind of get them going.
We'll talk through a few things and just kind of help people out, mentor people.
You know, the other thing is doing Porsche Parade.
So that's probably one of the biggest lifts because there's a lot of planning for that,
especially this year with Lake Placid.
We went to five different destinations
and I have 12 tours that left to those five different destinations.
So but going back to the national side of things is the minimum standards.
So my team will keep those minimum standards updated.
We have a few more updates that we want to make this year.
We're also going to be working on adding new content.
We're going to be looking to create a whole
pamphlet in essence of how to put on a driving tour.
So it kind of breaks it down.
So it's just about trying to keep things standard across all of PCA throughout all the regions
and have some kind of guidance that's there for everybody to get going with.
So, you know, some regions are really have really well developed driving tour programs.
Others do not.
So we're trying to help get everybody so that everybody has the same
content and availability to read and, you know, put on a great driving tour.
You know, and it's always working to improve things on the surface.
It looks like a planning and driving tour wouldn't be that hard.
It's not like a rally where you have to make sure to make a right hand turn
and, you know, the distance and all that.
But the tours are actually and this is one of the reasons when I was one of the UC
that we decided to make standards, not guidelines for driving tours
because it was the most popular event that the club hosted.
And because there was such a diversity in driving skills, it wasn't like drivers
ed, where people would be grouped according to their driving skill.
They had instructors or club racing that you had to pass a certain amount of
requirements here.
You had people that were driving their first Porsche at a performance level
for the first time and other ones who simply wanted to go out for a nice
leisurely drive and wasn't interested in qualifying for a rally type thing.
So yes, doing tours.
It's when I was on the first committee, it was really interesting how even
the smallest of details, I just remember like passing a bicycle.
It sounds simple when you're by yourself in your own car, but when you're
leading 15 cars behind you, then you've got to kind of plan it out and
never have everyone has to be on the same understanding.
Yeah, it's probably one of my biggest points that I get very concerned about
because whatever the lead car does, all 15 or so cars, depending on how big
the group is, are going to want to do the exact same thing.
And so as the lead car, it is a little bit more of a, you know, puts a
little bit more pressure on you because you want to make sure that you're
doing very safe executions of, you know, there's plenty of time for all
the cars to get around.
And so it's just one of those things that I take very personally because I
want to make sure everybody has a good time, everybody gets there safely.
And every region does it different.
Some just want to do a drive and then they end up somewhere and then
they have lunch on your own.
Others do this whole crazy multi-day, just different stops and like a program,
right?
Here's a dinner and a show.
And so it really just depends.
And, you know, in my region, we mostly do a drive with a lunch, but we've done
dinner drives, dinner and a show, basically.
We've done multi-day drives.
We've had our own sort of like truffin, you know, locally.
And, you know, so I've been exposed to a lot of different things and done a
lot of that different planning, but you're right.
It just comes down to you have people coming in from, and we had other
regions that will join us.
And, you know, we don't know anything about these people.
We don't know how long they've been driving, but how well their cars
running, what their driving level is at.
And then, you know, you have the general public that you're trying to maneuver around.
And if you're going at any time during the weekday, you got rush hour traffic
and people are trying to get to work.
So they, you're like, they see us coming along that we're in convenience
because they're just trying to hurry up and get to work.
Exactly.
They're not part of the fun.
There's a lot of different factors that play in it.
Yeah, so something I've done a driving tour and I'll just say it's been
quite a long time, but back, you know, with a car club, I did a driving tour
probably over a decade ago or several.
And, you know, that tour was definitely, and I won't say which club or whatever,
but it was fast, fast driving.
And as, you know, at the time as an 18, 19, 20 year old, you know, I loved it.
I was just like, this is so cool.
You know, we've got, you know, everyone wants to drive really fast
and push the limits of the cars.
I'm 38 now and I love the autocross and that's sort of what I've been doing.
But what would you say to somebody maybe like me who I don't personally
plan to stop autocrossing, but let's say I wanted to dabble into tours
a little bit more, you know, now that I'm a little bit more mature.
And I look back on those days and say, wow, what we did was very dangerous
in those car clubs.
What would you say to a PCA member who's thinking about joining a tour
nowadays, you know, such as at Parade or at the region level?
Yeah, so driving tours really, the focus is about sticking together
and getting, you know, you're driving and seeing these wonderful sites
and have fun roads, but to do it as reasonable as possible, you know,
following the rules of the road.
It's really about being together and making friends and having
that rapport with everybody.
It's not, driving tours are not about the speed.
If you want the speed, go to the track, you know, that's especially
what we tell people here in our region, go to the track because it's
it's unsafe to do it out on the road.
You never know when that deer might cross in front of you or something
might come out or somebody turns in front of you.
It's it's better to go to the track.
It's a nice, safe environment for that.
Go there. Come have fun.
I've had people come in my region, especially when I started getting
involved in taking over and following the minimum standards, you know,
because early on there was no minimum standards.
You know, they roughly came around in 2017 or something about that.
So they haven't been around all that long.
So early on, you know, tours were a little bit more, I guess you
could say free for all, because there was no minimum standards.
And so the regions, maybe we're setting, you know, where different
areas had different ideas of what constituted.
I think the wake up call for the EC was that we had more claims
and insurance for driving tours and club racing.
Oh my gosh.
And so everyone thought drivers, they had club racing.
That's where, you know, all the claims come from.
But no, because they had roles, they had corner workers and whatnot.
It was driving tours at the time, because like articulated earlier,
every region did things differently.
And and it was it was key that we kind of corralled everyone
and said, OK, we're all going to be on the same page.
And they were minimum standards.
Some regions add on to the standards.
Some live just by the minimum.
But as long as they live by those minimums, I think
the insurance guy sleeps better at night.
Yeah, definitely.
And I've had people come back or come to me and I've never seen them before.
And they're like, thank you.
I had a great time.
You know, the tours, I stopped doing them years ago because it got too fast.
Like I just didn't enjoy myself.
So I've heard that things are, you know, following the rules of the road now
and much more calm and enjoyable.
And so she's like, so I had to give it a try and I had a great time.
So thank you. I'll be back.
And that's really what it is.
It's it's it's like a moving car show.
And, you know, as we move down the road, but it's it's not about going fast.
It really is.
I tell people here at the National Office, we hear the complaints
because when somebody, a group of porches, cut somebody off
or is driving like like lunatics, they Google Porsche Club
regardless of where they are in the US and they'll get the National Office
and they call up and they make a complaint.
And then we have to kind of like be detectives to figure out
where where were you driving, what region do they have an event at?
And to kind of narrow it down.
Sometimes it's not PCA.
Sometimes it's a group of guys and porches that weren't affiliated at all with the club.
But that's the image that people have.
And then immediately goes to Porsche Club because they see a a group of people.
So, yeah, to me, as as much as I, like Damon, did autocross club racing,
the thing that scares me the most about going overly fast on these side roads
is like any kids that are playing out front.
And you know, you're coming over a blind corner and
you know, they're not prepared to see that.
So you got to just enjoy the drive.
Yeah, if you're looking for a maximum performance potential of your car,
I don't think the tourists for you.
It goes on autocross and you can be humbled real quick of what your driving skills are.
But yeah, I mean, that's why my wife, she loves.
We both were we're signed up for a tour on Saturday
that we both enjoyed because like you said, the social aspect for me,
big part of it is getting there like an hour and a half before
and just hanging around the parking lot, talking to people, then the tour itself.
And then they always have some kind of lunch planned or restaurants where they stop at.
So it's a great mixture of social, enjoying your car and just enjoying the day
without the need of getting out with your hands trembling because you drove the car so fast.
Yeah, and I've heard some people call into that they were on a driving tour
and it was going above the speed limit
and that they just decided to pull over and just drive normal
and get to the destination just because they're just like, you know, it was just too much,
you know, too much, I guess, adrenaline and everything else that
and you know, it tires you out faster for a lot of people,
especially if you don't do it on a regular basis.
So again, go do it somewhere safe where you know,
you have an ambulance waiting for you if anything bad were to happen, you know,
it's like the controlled environment is the way to go to go crazy.
Because yeah, there's just too many things out there that you can get hurt on
or you can hurt somebody else or something else like another animal.
So it's just not stick together, do the social thing, enjoy the time,
enjoy the scenery, enjoy the destination, especially like at Porsche Parade.
You know, we set up these great events and so people love to go do something
different together and meet people from other regions.
I mean, it's just a great event to go to.
It's just keep it relaxed.
So speaking of Porsche Parade, once tours started,
they became like the most popular event at Parade.
They far eclipse the competitive events as the big four big competitive events.
And I think that's probably because just like we articulated earlier,
it's a it's a low stress type of an event.
I mean, sign up for it.
You know what it is, anyone can do it.
You know, just follow the leaders kind of like a five K, you know,
just follow the person in front of you and you're going to have a good time.
But wow, it becomes now become a competition to get into certain tours.
Before they sell out.
Yeah, there's no ribbons or anything handed out unlike, you know,
the five K for driving tours.
There's just there's no placement, but it is pretty cut through
just to get into some of the tours.
So yeah, you got to be quick and know what you want and when you want it.
So yes, Melanie, our events manager sent us a whole bunch of statistics last week
and one of them looked at the tours and there was a 12 tours.
Time is a 12 tours a day times four days or 48 tours.
They put that perspective like my region is planning one tour.
They've been planning this for several weeks, but it's one tour.
That's it.
I can't imagine doing 12 tours in a day.
That's like a
day doing four times in a row.
Right.
It was some long days in the parking lot for sure.
We were out there about 55 in the morning, five to five 30,
but mostly around five, just the start and lay out the parking lot.
We had multiple groups as well for these tours.
So, you know, you do you think about, you know, if I was put to all the run
groups together for all these driving tours.
I mean, it's it's a lot of moving parts.
And so, you know, I basically use a diagram of the parking lot
and show like, you know, markers as a run group and move
throughout the parking lot just to see the flow.
And so I don't have anybody crossing over and hitting each other or, you know,
have having craziness.
So, I mean, it happens, you know, sometimes because, you know,
I've been digesting this and creating it for months.
And so going out and getting my volunteers in the parking lot,
you know, sometimes it's hard to give them, especially when
because there's always people, it's the Porsche way.
I call it the PCA way that everybody wants to show up early
and get stage really early.
So, so they're showing up way too early and we're still trying to set up.
And so, you know, I have to get them in, you know, so there's always
some hiccups that happen, but it was very busy this year for sure.
But sometimes the destination wants to have the people broken out over the day
because they just don't want to be overwhelmed with so many people coming at
once in, you know, some regions are like, oh, you know, hey, you know,
we ours are normally about 15 to 30 people.
And I'm like, yeah, we're going to have 75 in this group and 75 in this group.
You know, in multiple driving run groups, right?
But yeah, this is how many people are signed up and and they often fill up.
So how many cars on average were in a run group?
15. 15. OK. So.
So, but there was one.
That means you need a leader and a sweeper for each group?
Yeah. So here's here's some numbers that are just crazy.
So, you know, for Porsche Parade,
that late in the past of this year, we had 2,622 total register people, right?
1,321 of them were primary members.
Out of the four days, we had 1,842 people show up for those four days.
So a lot of people and there were 688 primary drivers registered for those four days.
And then, you know, family members of friends and guests.
And there were 130 volunteers to be leads and sweeps.
So not only is it so many people compared to all the other events going on,
it's a lot of people and it's a lot of volunteers that doesn't even account
for my co-chairs and the people that are help staging doing, you know,
the parking lot stages.
Do we know how many volunteers for all of Parade and how many of those
were just for the tour?
Like a fourth of the volunteers for tours, something like that.
Five or 600 Yeah, that is insane.
And how do you?
I guess you got to have some kind of screening process for someone
who's going to be a tour leader or sweep someone who's done it before.
You know, it's it's actually it's actually interesting.
I would say majority of the people that so when if they don't sign up
and volunteer and I send out emails asking for these volunteers,
a lot of them say, hey, I'm I'm a tour leader in my own region.
So they just volunteer their act, you know, their activity
and their their skills, basically.
So I mean, I just love the club and how people are like, yeah,
you know, this is this is my experience and this is what I know.
And I'd be willing to raise my hand and then, you know, here's what I drive to.
So I just love it that people do that and respond in that kind of manner.
So it makes a lot easier.
You know, but sometimes it's just about somebody who's willing
to take on that role.
And, you know, we do have a meeting ahead of time.
We go through it if somebody has more questions, then I'll meet with them
ahead of time and either ahead of parade or during check in
or during Monday during Concord or something like that before the tours
actually start, you know, we'll meet and and discuss things so that
they feel more comfortable.
Make sure that they're set up with all these maps and so they can pick
which one they're more comfortable with and execute that.
So we try our best to get everybody good.
When you said driver's meeting, I remember at the hot wash meeting we had at the end,
I think I think you brought up that you thought about doing a recording
of the driver's meeting because you had to do it, what, 48 times?
Yes.
It's the same thing.
Yeah.
So my co-chair handled that for the most part.
But yeah, I mean, your voice gets tired.
So yeah, that might be something that we might want to say.
I think that probably entrance will think about that, you know, that they're
going to be repeating this a lot of what they're saying over and
and over. So by day four, if it sounds
kind of sped up or something, then you can certainly understand why.
Because they've I can't imagine like doing 48 autocross drivers
meetings in four days.
That's that's a lot of repetition there.
Yeah. I mean, there's and there's little side notes for each tour.
So depending on which one's taking off, what notes to add on, you know,
for that particular tour as well.
So there there will be extras added on.
But the standard safety briefing can I think can be, you know, recorded
and played. And but yeah, a lot of people just show up for the one tour.
And that's all they know.
And they don't think about all the other, you know, tours that are showing up
after them or before them. So yeah, it's and then you start talking about that.
They're like, wow, that's a lot.
And it's like, yeah, that's a lot.
So I unfortunately didn't get to go to any Prairie Tours because we were working.
But did they that all include some kind of lunch at the end?
Or was that some of them?
Lunch was included.
Yeah, lunch was included with every one of them.
Some of them were at the destination.
Others went to a separate restaurant, but we had some great places lined up.
And I heard a lot of good reviews about the food.
A lot of the destinations, people really enjoyed that.
You know, I try to mix it up and make it very different.
So we had one that was very active and that would be
the Osable Chasm, because there was a little bit of hiking and walking
and some stairs on that.
And then there was the Revolution Rail, which was the bicycle rail bike, basically.
So you'd pedal your way up down the line and then turn around.
They would turn out, you know, turn everything around for you.
And then you'd ride back.
But, you know, then then we take care of the history buffs.
And we went to Fort Ticonderoga, which is like the oldest fort in the U.S. ever.
And, you know, it was built by the French, I believe, a long time ago.
So like 1780, something like that.
So just try to get something out there for everybody.
So depending on what your focus is and what you like to do, there's and then
there's some people, I kid you not, that sign up for all a tour each day.
Wow. That's all they do.
They come and do the tours.
God bless. That's great.
Yeah. And they have fun and they love it.
So they, you know, they I sent, I set up five and they only get to pick four.
So, you know, they have to decide but make choices.
So but they have a great time.
I always tell people that the tours are a great way for you to see
whatever parade we go to, that area that you probably wouldn't have seen
if you just did the touristy stuff or the stuff that's well known.
But for the tours, you can you get to see a side of the area
that you probably wouldn't have seen.
Yeah. And some of these places at times really enjoy
and like the idea that we're coming and especially sometimes in big numbers
and they'll do something a little extra special or take us a little behind the
scenes or give us a little bit of preview.
So they get very excited, these destinations and want to do something extra
for our group. So it kind of is fun to plan these things for everybody.
And it's just I love hearing the feedback.
I don't always get the feedback because this year, you know, I was very busy.
And so if I wasn't in the parking lot, I was on my computer doing emails
and sending out information to all the tour attendants for the next day.
So I wasn't out and around listening to conversations or having people come up
and tell me, but that there were quite a few that did.
And I'll tell you, the rain didn't slow anybody down.
That's what it seemed like, because people asked me who didn't go to parade.
You know, how much did the rain affect?
And I said, you know, I said, it felt like it rained every day.
I said, but it didn't slow anyone down.
And I didn't hear people complaining about the rain just dealt with that.
I said it, you know, it's whether they had to go inside
or they just had a raincoat and they, you know, dealt with it.
There was nothing that seemed to slow.
I think the only thing that they had to cancel that I heard was
the autocross runoff, right, right, Damon?
Yep, the autocross runoff.
And, you know, it's a deluge of rain might
do some things and make it drive a little more slowly or make a question.
Yeah, you know, whether you should go or not.
But really, this whole week, it was just sort of light rain for the most part.
You know, if it was raining, except for for Thursday, really.
Yeah, I I saw people out on the road all the time.
I'm wondering, Holly, so it sounds like you didn't get to drive
the tourist during parade, but were you able to at least drive
before parade and in some of the preparations?
Yes. So did you have a favorite?
I went out a few, you know, I kind of do.
But so I went out a few days earlier to drive everything.
And I will tell you that, unfortunately, the week before was warm, sunny,
you know, some white clouds in the sky.
I was like, oh, I wish it would stay this way.
It was driving, but yeah, it was perfect driving weather.
Had some great, great times driving around.
And I tell you, any road you took, even the interstate,
it's just very pretty all around.
So it didn't matter which way you went.
But, you know, one of the ones I really fought for and had to work hard
at doing was the Tumble Home Boat Shop.
And, you know, initially, the ask was that they wanted to have us
come two days, just two days out of the four.
And I'm like, yeah, I go, I tell you, you're going to sell out.
And even if we did all four days, you're still going to sell out.
And I kid you not, it sold out all four days.
They agreed to it.
And then there were some people that didn't make it in
that called Tumble Home Boat Shop and asked if they would do more.
So that's how bad some people wanted into this show.
And if you made it there and got to see these boats, I mean, the craftsmanship
and it they're gorgeous.
It's they're beautiful.
I you just can't pass it up.
And so that that was very intriguing and different to go see.
So that was a place where they build boats.
It's not a yeah. Taurus destination, let's say.
No, it's not.
It's just where the refurbish your boat.
If you have one in your original or they'll build you one
just like whatever model you like from the 1920s or 30s or whatever it is.
So even to your canoe, right, your wooden canoe, so so they'll
they'll do whatever you'd like.
So that was like a treat.
So it's not always about, hey, here's a tourist destination.
You know, the other one we did was Revolution Rail.
That's somewhat of a tourist destination, but that's where you're really
active people to go do something.
It's you're just in this
like car, in essence, and it's an open
bicycle, basically, but it fits on the rails.
And you're just going down the track and there's nothing else around you.
It's just trees on other side, you know, signs of you, then there's a river.
And, you know, it's just kind of a nice way to get out and do something active.
And for the most part, it's mostly in the shade, but you got to cross over this
bridge. That was really cool, too.
So one of these trestle bridges that went across the river.
So I mean, just some cool different experiences that people don't
necessarily seek out when they go to some place like Lake Placid.
Plus you're you're in a group with fellow Porsche Club members.
I mean, I used that example with the crews because I'm not a cruise person,
but I'm like being on a boat with like a thousand PCA people.
It's pretty cool.
Even when there's no porches around, just to be able to sit down at breakfast.
Family. Exactly. Yeah, it's so extended family, for sure.
So, yeah. So, you know, the most of these, I would say, all these destinations,
it came from our president, Aaron Ambrosino and his wife, Amelia.
And so they had this list.
And so, you know, I kind of worked through there, checked everything out and said,
yeah, these are the places that we really need to go to.
So, you know, planning started,
unfortunately, with a lot of, you know, the two visits that I go out there prior
to Parade is somewhat when they're kind of shutting down.
So that's why, you know, one of my concerns was, you know,
how am I going to get food when we're there in the summer?
But we were kind of on shoulder season and so they weren't quite at full capacity
and not all the restaurants and everything was, you know, open or had limited hours.
And so it was kind of hard when we were visiting there.
But, you know, some cold days and maybe some icy roads a little bit.
So it's a little hard to enjoy things when you're going out and scoping out everything.
But but it came out to be wonderful, even with the rain.
Things, things continue.
You know, that rains often there that they don't stop because you just you just can't, you know.
So we kept going as well.
And I had some great volunteers that came back for a second day
and brought their raincoats and their umbrellas.
And some had their rain boots on and that they stuck it out.
And they had a great time even being in the parking lot.
So just got to make the best of it.
So we we did all around.
I think everything turned out pretty well overall.
I guess you had to rely a lot on the local region.
You said you made two trips.
So you're not there planning the tour route yourself.
Is that something you rely on the locals to help you out with?
Yeah. So, you know, there is a lot of reliance on
Aaron, as well as my co-chair chairs, Todd and Karen.
And so sometimes, too, we picked on other people within the region just to say, OK,
you have no no knowledge of the route.
Here's the map.
Here's here's a link for the driving tour app or the driving app.
And so go go pre drive it.
Tell me how you feel, you know, could you because at least they knew the area.
But then, you know, this map would take them out.
So we just wanted to see how it would execute.
So yeah, we have to get a lot of people involved.
Sometimes the co-chairs do it all.
Other times they might enlist some other help.
But it just works great because we need people,
especially that have a better idea of the area to go pre drive.
And so when I was down there, I did go pre drive majority of the routes
and we went and visited all those places.
Now, sometimes I would do two and one.
So when we went to tumble home, I think we spent maybe maybe 20 minutes there.
And just did a quick little run around peak and talked to Ruben there.
It's super nice.
And then, you know, connect with everybody just to check in and make sure
that they're ready to go because, you know, here comes over a thousand,
you know, most 2000 people come in your way over the next four days.
So yeah, it's a lot of work, but it's also a lot of fun.
And you make some great new friends.
And, you know, some of them might be short time,
but it's just great to stay in touch with some of these people.
I know there's still people I talk to from Oklahoma City.
Great. So I guess with that many cars,
you're bound to have some challenges
that maybe regular people don't think about,
but you've got people that break down, run out of gas.
Lord knows what they do sometimes that wasn't expected.
And either your sweeper has to do something or somebody has to pull over
and and help them out.
Yeah, it's a little it was a little bit more challenging this year
just because of the terrain.
There wasn't very good cell service.
And so it's it's kind of what we do here in our region is, you know,
I can't handle, you know, think about there were 12 tours a day.
And if I was to give radius to every run group for all 12 tours,
I mean, how many radios would we have?
And then trying to make sure that I got them all back and charged every night.
Like that just seems like a nightmare trying to manage all that.
And so, you know, basically, you just have to tell people, like, look,
you know, if if you have engine trouble, you know, pull over,
find the safest spot you can, put your hazards on, the sweeper will come up.
We'll take your info if you're not able to make that phone call
and make that phone call for you as soon as they can get to somewhere
that they can make, you know, have that cell connection and make that phone call
and get you one of those flatbed tow trucks to come and get you in rescue.
Yeah. So, yeah, it's it's difficult.
And, you know, you just hope that nobody has any kind of medical
emergencies and knock on wood.
We haven't had that here on a driving tour.
You know, I know that there are times where things might have happened
at a destination.
So, you know, maybe at the museum or something.
But for the most part, I think everybody does good.
And so it stays well hydrated, comes with a full tank or a full charge.
So we don't seem to have that happen too much at parade.
I know it does happen locally at some of the regions that some people don't quite
prepared. I think more people nowadays are better at it.
So at least getting a full tank of gas or stopping, you know,
the right in the parking lot at the gas station where everybody's meeting
and you see everybody filling up, topping off.
So at least they know to to do that.
So that's my worst fear as far as embarrassment would be to run out of gas
on a tour. So, yeah, we do the same thing.
If we have like the tour we're doing on Saturday, it takes us an hour
to have to get to the meeting point.
But I already have planned that close to the gas station, we're going to top off
because I don't want to be that guy that doesn't run out of gas,
but has to pull off the tour routes to find a gas station.
Right. So I was amazed when I showed up on Saturday
at Parade and I saw you directing the Parade of Portions.
And I didn't realize that was also under your oversight.
Has that always been part of the driving tour, Chair?
As far as I understand, yes, it always has been.
So, yeah, so it's really five days, but four days of tours and then the Parade
of Portions. So, you know, this year we did it for 200 cars.
I think we ended up for about 190.
It did rain, but that did not slow people down either.
And there was this great little hill
that was like a driveway up to the top and a driveway down in, you know,
there was a gate, but so many people I saw video because I was so focused
on getting cars through, but everybody was on top of this hill
looking out at the parking lot and all the cars taking pictures.
And so it turned out to be a great parking lot for that.
And I had somebody come to me because I was still trying to direct people
and he answered questions and somebody's like, wow, I wonder who put this
parking lot together and in line days, cars up to get them out of here.
And I'm like, I figured that out.
They're like, oh, really? Oh, you did a great job.
That was impressive. It seemed like there
there wasn't maybe almost enough room to add another 15 cars to that tour,
the way, you know, from my perspective at a parade of Porsches.
And if you're watching YouTube as well, another reason to watch this podcast
on YouTube is we have a little time lapse going in some pictures
thrown up from there so you can see just how many people were standing on that
hill and some pictures from the hill, which it was an amazing site.
It was a but yeah, I can't believe how many cars fit in there.
And I was told to go park in the corner because I had a Mazda and I'm like,
they need all the room they can get for this one.
Yeah. And the people there were just so happy, even though it was that annoying
spitting type of rain, everyone was out of their cars smiling.
And I thought somebody said, how you do?
And I said, well, I said a bunch of Porsche friends, a bunch of Porsches
on the Saturday, who's what's the complaint about, right?
And the police officers seem to be having a good time as well, our escorts.
So, yeah. Oh, yeah.
They that was their first time doing that sort of an event.
And we started working with them very early and I met with them in April
when I was out there for a visit and kind of we met in the parking lot.
I'm like, this feels kind of weird and sketchy.
Hey, let's meet in the parking lot with the cops.
But I did with the troopers there.
And I mean, it was great.
But, you know, we had to coordinate with the county sheriff, the Lake
Placid police and the New York State troopers.
So there was there's a lot that goes into doing that.
And so, but you're right.
You hear your 200 cars and all your extended PCA family and friends.
I mean, it what what what can go, you know, what's so bad about that?
And it's a pretty cool event.
I I've done it for the past five years because I ride shotgun with John
John G from Reliable and he always does with them.
And what's cool for us, I think, is there's actually people
that come out to want to see the cars go by in a parade.
And and I can understand that because a lot of people ask,
well, what kind of see all the cars together?
And I said, the closest is the Concord.
And then after that, you know, they all break up to do different events.
But the parade of Porsches is a great
where we get on the parade route to watch the cars go by.
It's very cool. And even in the rain,
they were so so cool to see people with their cars parked on the side waving as
the parade went around for the people who were stopped.
We're part of the parade.
They had to watch to go by willingly or unwillingly.
But I think majority enjoyed it.
Yeah. And I actually heard some feedback that there was a lot more people
than I expected to be on the route.
So that makes it more fun for everybody as well.
And there's nothing better to hear these cars either leave the parking lot
or, you know, just driving by because every car sounds different.
And so it's it's just fun.
And then at the, you know, the end, I was holding the sign,
you know, because I just didn't want people coming back in the lot
and then trying to have them all turned left to get, you know, back to things.
So I'm like, we're just going to put a sign up.
I'm going to hold this sign says end of tour and you're on your own.
But I mean, everybody was just happy.
They're waving, flashing their lights, honking their horns.
And I mean, people just, I mean, that was their way of saying,
hey, thanks, I had a great time.
And so I would say most people did that.
I mean, they just enjoyed it, even though it was pouring rain
and my feet were getting wet, but it was still I had fun.
I'd love I'd love to see that happen.
Is that something that at least you have someone who is in charge
to separate the Porsches or do you have to do that too?
Is someone who deals with the police who deals with the.
No, that's all me to. Wow.
That's a lot. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. So there there's there's a lot of planning that goes on.
I'll tell you now, I've already had two meetings with the Boise team out there.
So we're just starting to kind of dabble and get ahead of things even a little sooner.
And so hopefully when I'm out there in the fall visit,
that maybe we can actually have a couple of routes done
and go pre-drive a couple of routes in the fall
and really kind of get ahead of this one.
So there's going to be some fun stuff going on.
And I think we're going to have a couple of tours headed up to the mountains.
So if it's hot down in in town,
that maybe you want to take a driving tour and go up,
go up high in elevation and go find somewhere where it's cooler.
So I tell people, I went to the last Boise Parade
and I thought it was a great it's funny.
Every time I go to a location, I'm like, I don't know about this, you know,
but you leave going, wow, what a great town, you know.
And I think a lot of that has to do with the parade committee
and how they plan these events and whatnot and locations.
But what I do remember about Boise the last time was
if I'm correct, they resurrected the parade of Porsches
because before then we weren't doing, at least certainly not regularly,
a parade of Porsches.
And that was a that was if you look at the photos from back at that parade,
a ton of revolved around the parade of Porsches
because it was such a sight to see all these cars lined up.
Well, it seemed like forever being paraded through town.
I like to think Hershey is the one who really accelerated the
the tours, the idea of the tours, because that was
one or two tours thrown in there, but nothing like it is today.
And certainly Hershey didn't have that amount that there is today.
That would have been like you would have told us that we would have like
thought you were doing drugs to be able to do that many tours.
But we figured, you know, people like to do driving dines as we call them out here.
And that would be perfect to add on to the parade.
But I tell people, I go, don't, especially on the east coast,
they're saying, well, I won't do Boise.
I'm going to do to Michigan.
I said, don't discount Boise.
I said, it's a great little downtown and the last parade was the bless.
It's yeah, I think I think the weather is dry, actually.
They're not like a humid area or
no, at least from when I looked up, it seemed to be more of a dry type of
weather, which is perfect for us east coasters who don't
who have a lot of humidity who want to get away from it.
So that'd be a great change of pace.
Yeah, if you can find a little bit of shade and have an ice cold drink
here in either Colorado or Idaho, usually you can stay fairly cool.
So that that stickiness that just surrounds you on the east coast is not here.
So yeah, it's a much different thing.
You know, like I'll say Oklahoma City.
I think a lot of people also discounted Oklahoma City parade.
I thought their downtown was amazing and had so much fun.
And I just I was kind of disappointed that so many people just didn't go
because the people who went said this was amazing.
I had so much fun.
It was great.
And the weather wasn't as hot as you thought it was going to be.
We actually got blessed with some really nice, comfy days.
So you just never know.
You can't you just can't discount these places.
I mean, they're they're awesome.
No, and we try to make it even better.
So yeah, like we said before, you're surrounded by other
the Portugal family.
So, you know, regardless of what you think at the location, you're going to
have a good time no matter what, because you're you go into the hotel,
you go to the bar, you go to a coffee shop.
One number is just surrounded by people wearing that lanyard.
And you know, right away, they're part of the parade and nothing cooler to
meet and meeting people from around the country who are PCA members
and you know, hearing their story.
Yeah, I mean, you always hear about these people.
Oh, I met these people on the driving tour and we're having dinner tomorrow night.
Oh, OK.
You know, like, but it just happens.
I mean, a lot of people just don't I'm like, just don't be afraid to talk to people.
I'm like, you all have something in common.
Just say hi, where are you from?
What do you drive it?
And you never know, it just goes from there.
And now you have, you know, six best friends that you met up for eight.
I remember the last crew, we were on Nathan Merz was on there
and he was like, hey, you want to join us for dinner?
And it's going to be about like 10 of us, I'm like, sure.
And so we sat down and he says, oh, this is so and so they're friends of ours.
I figured they came by someone on the cruise and later on I'm talking to the husband.
And I said, so how long have you known Nathan and Susie?
And he goes about 20 hours.
I go 20 hours.
He goes, yeah, we were sitting next to each other
in that same table, but the tables are pretty close in the restaurants on the ship.
He goes and we just started talking.
And the next thing you know, he said, why don't you join us for dinner tomorrow night?
I got some Porsche Club friends and so he goes, so we're here.
And I said, do you own a Porsche?
He goes, no, we're not really car people.
But he says to me, he goes, but you know what?
He goes, everyone from PCA has been so nice to us.
I told my wife, we have to go by by a car and join this club because
he goes, I really like it.
Immediately becomes your friend because you're a PCA member,
which I thought that's very true.
I said that this little lanyard can open up your world
as far as friendships and connections and whatnot.
Yeah. And so parades like that.
And that's what, once again, why I love tours.
I'm looking forward to the one I'm going on Saturday.
We always try to sit at lunch with people we've never seen or new members
and to make them feel welcome.
But it's a great way to connect with different members of the club.
And I tell people who come to events, veterans can say,
I don't recognize anyone here.
I'm like, you got to come out to events, tours,
meet the new members who are now, you know, participating regularly.
And then you'll know people when you come to events.
Yeah. Yeah.
It's it's a good starter.
Yeah. If you have social gatherings in your club,
and that's a great way for new members to go to that.
The second best one is a driving tour because it's just low key.
Get together, drive your Porsche somewhere, have lunch, get to meet new people.
And it just can build so many relationships.
And like in my region, a lot of autocrossers will have been,
you know, hop on a driving tour and do that as well.
Or I'll see them at socials and same thing with the DE people.
And so there's a lot of mix up, right,
where everybody just does a little bit of everything.
You know, so it's just like you get to meet so many more people
and then when you go to parade,
you get to meet so many more people from all these other regions.
And so now your network of people that you know.
So if you're traveling and driving, hey, I'm coming through your state.
Can we meet? Like, let's get together.
What I don't know how you would not want to be a member
and have this whole extended network of friends that have the same,
you know, liking and these and other activities.
Because I mean, I've had one of our social
places that we would visit said we really like it
when the Porsche Club comes other than other clubs,
because you guys do so much more and talk about so many other things
than just your cars, you know.
So yeah, we can we can talk to like the mechanics and talk about skiing
or, you know, just other events that they do.
And so they feel really connected to our members.
And I think our members feel more connected to those mechanics
because you just share your life and your interest.
And, you know, it's like it doesn't matter what you do.
Nobody really wants to know what you do for a living.
They just want to know what you do for fun.
And what do you do with your car and how many cars do you have?
And that's it. You know, it doesn't matter what you do.
Yeah, I always hope it was not a LinkedIn networking type of social club.
It's more just like you said, just talking about shared interest.
And and what I had always stuck in my head
when the Porsche executives from Germany pointed out that
they said, your club has no class structure.
And I said, what do you mean?
And he said, and in Europe, because we're split by blue collar
and white collar Porsche clubs, he goes here, everyone is the same.
He goes, yeah. And I thought about it.
I said, that's pretty true.
I said, you'll be CEOs talking to welders.
And we rarely say what we do for a living.
And it doesn't matter what you do, you know, as long as you have
that shared interest of the love of the brand, that's all that matters.
So they were really impressed that it's just a wide diversity of incomes
and interests that still manage to stay together.
So yeah, let me let me switch over to
this is stuff that usually does and I just sit back and
check my email while you're reading this.
Now, I got to make sure I got to read it because it's in bright yellow.
Be sure to head over to www.pca.org to sign up for PC newsletters,
performance news, e-break news and mark fresh all free.
We're going to cover the news, Holly.
So feel free to chime in if you have anything you want to contribute to it.
First up, I think it's the McCann ending.
Yes. So you may have seen this in the news.
And at Parade, we had quite a few McCanns there as well.
That's what's a great thing.
Once again, my tours is that it doesn't have to be a sports car.
It can be I think even to let rental cars come in as part of we do.
I think they may be in a back of the tour,
but they they can still still participate.
But yeah, four doors are just as the same treated same as any of the two doors.
But unfortunately, Porsche is getting rid of the gas McCann.
That was a little a strategic planning that didn't work out too well.
But they thought at this point, everyone be driving EVs didn't work out that way.
So now we knew it was coming.
It wasn't a surprise, but now it's like a kind of official
that they stopped production of the McCann.
Yeah, we've been hearing about this.
And I feel like we've been talking about this for quite some time now
in the news or even on this podcast.
But it's different now because the production itself is actually ending.
So this is the actual end of the line physically of internal combustion engine.
McCann's we have we have the general manager of a local dealership
coming in on Friday for a podcast.
And basically the theme of the podcast is what do you do when the manufacturer
takes away your best selling car, which is the gas McCann, you know,
like how do how do the salespeople deal with it?
How do you deal with it?
You know, what's what's the next steps until Porsche comes out with a
replacement, which you're obviously rushing to do.
But it'll be a couple of years minimum before it comes out.
Yeah, a couple years.
Is that already sending them down to the Audi dealership to get a Q5, right?
Or take a look at our CPO offering.
That's that's going to be I think it's something that will be discussing.
He'll be discussing the CPO can hold people off.
I'm not sure McCanns are going to go up in value.
I wish because I have a McCann, but I think that
it is definitely going to affect the dealers.
But that was when I bought my McCann, they were selling four other McCanns
that same hour.
And I thought, oh, wow, they are going to miss this car.
Three of them were a gas, one of the electric.
But I thought, wow, it was.
It was very interesting to see how many McCanns just in one hour they sold.
Next news item is the 9 11 outselling the Ticon, which it's not for
I guess for those of us who follow regularly now that they're no longer
building the 7 18, they have more production space
sort of ramping up production on 9 11 and 9 11 is very desirable.
So they're selling a ton of
of not trying to fulfill all the requests for 9 11.
The Ticon, on the other hand, I heard an insider tell me
everyone who wants a Ticon already owns it.
And that's what their concern is.
Ticon is a great car.
They called the four door 9 11, but
just by sales for the first quarter, it's our first half of 2026.
It's things five times as many 9 11's in Ticon.
So it's.
The interesting to see there was that rumor earlier that
BW is cutting all these models.
And the one of the things they may be looking at cutting also is a Ticon.
So it's a rumor, whether it's sure or not, it'll it'll be interesting.
Events coming up.
We have a workshop union August 14th.
The judge fairway is sold out.
And I think the corral is almost sold out.
So by the time this comes out and maybe sold out, you can so come, obviously,
right to the spectate.
We're recording on a Wednesday on Tuesday evening.
There were only about 25 corral parking spots left, which means they might.
There will be very few, if any, by the time this podcast comes out.
But give it a try.
There might still be a few.
And you can always park in general parking.
So it's it's not the end of the world if you don't get into the corral.
Oomstock and we're having at the Huntington Beach Pier.
First, first time ever, portions are going to be in the pier.
There's only been one of the car show held there, and that's the VW bus show.
I got to tell you, the VW bus people are the most chill people around.
We went to the show, the scoop, how they hold the show.
And it was interesting is I think about 75% of the owners were PCA members, too.
Soon as they saw our shirts that said PCA, they're like, oh, I'm a member of such a region.
So I thought it was really funny that these were all Porsche owners, too.
But they have during the buses, but they were so relaxed.
I told them, I'm like, wow, I'm like, they make a lot of money.
It seems so tight out, just relaxing.
And some of the combines say, oh, you got to move your bus this way over here.
And they're like, all right, no problem.
And I thought, well, you asked that request at a concourse field.
It's like a certain death, you know, that you're asking somebody to move
their car after they've parked it.
That's November 8th.
Registration opens September 2nd.
That's going to be very popular.
Truffin SC 2026 Pacific Wine Country, September 19th through 25th.
That's coming up and there's still a room available.
Starts in Vancouver and finishes in LA.
A Truffin SC 2027.
This is a 12 day British owls with France and Belfast included.
I looked at the schedule at parade.
It's pretty impressive.
So my wife and I are thinking about doing this.
This is August 29th through September 10th.
And, you know, we talked about having fun
is being with the PCA family.
The next step of that is being with the international Porsche family,
where you have all these other regions and clubs.
And you thought it was cool watching videos of the World Cup
and all these different countries discovering America.
It's very cool to see all these other clubs
from around Europe coming to a PCA event.
It's for them, it's such a bucket list item.
So it's going to be very cool to be on the boat with them as well.
PCA open.
Well, I heard that if you want to do that,
Truffin and the British Isles, that you better hurry up and sign up.
There you go.
Because I hear that it's selling out pretty quick.
I heard the same thing.
They did like 400 spots at parade.
So, yeah, there's only so many so many cabins on the ship.
So and I'm not sure if they've opened it up internationally yet,
but I think what they open up internationally,
it'll nothing better than if we could take over that whole ship with Porsche people.
That would be the the ultimate.
Very cool.
On the East Coast, for those of you who near Maryland,
we had the PCA open house on Saturday, September 12th.
This year is an October Fest celebration with non-alcoholic beer.
If you've never been to one of our open houses,
we have, we usually have Mission Barbecue,
but I guess with the October Fest team, we may be German food.
They get about 200 portions.
They could fit in to the parking lot area of our little
our little office in a business park.
Fun time, no charge, all free.
And they do a lot of giveaways and discounted merchandise.
All the stuff that we couldn't sell at parade we bring to the open house.
PCA videos, David.
Yep, PCA videos.
Give me one sec.
I think we have the Frank Young.
Yeah, we do.
I had something else pulled up for a second.
I was I completely forgot about the videos for a second there.
But yes, Frank Young, Porsche AG's
head of their archives, an historian,
did an excellent presentation with rare photos,
probably photos that you wouldn't get to see now,
unless you attended that presentation or get invited to the historic archive.
In fact, I don't think you look for the thumbnail.
It's a Le Mans running start with the number 46, 356 SL,
their first race car that I believe won its class at that race.
I've never seen that photo before and it's on our thumbnail.
And you can see all sorts of early race cars
that Frank talks about with with images to back it up.
He's very well spoken and he goes right through.
Usually we have tons of questions during the presentation.
There wasn't a single question.
People were just listening and watching the whole time.
I thought the one funny part he goes,
he goes, I don't know anything else about this car.
So no questions, please.
Oh, yeah, yeah, it's very German, you know.
Yeah, so so that's a good one.
We have I keep talking about this 914 guide
and things just keep getting sort of busy around here.
And I'm I'm I'm struggling to find edit time,
but it will come out at some point.
So that's still on in the queue and I'm chipping away at it.
We have a video with a spec Boxster
that club racing business manager,
Connor and I filmed at the rainy autocross
in a spec Boxer on Slicks.
So that should be coming out in the next couple of weeks.
And I know there are a couple about the nine I seven point two
versus 91 point one.
That'll be coming out.
That'll be one of the next videos.
In fact, it might be coming out soon after you hear
or watch this podcast, but we had Nathan Mersentown
and we ended up having him drive
a or and also give a walk around of a 997 dot two
Carrera S PDK Basalt Black Metallic.
And then we also had on hand PDK 991 dot one
Basalt Black Metallic.
Very similarly spec cars that he also drove.
So he talks about what's different between the cars.
What are the myths of the 997 versus 991
dot one, you know, which one's bigger, which one's heavier.
What is the tape measure?
He pulled out the tape measure measures everything.
Exactly. So we give, you know, the specs that Porsche provides,
but then go a little bit deeper with the tape measure on why
and show you why you might think a 991 dot one is bigger
even when it's really not.
And then we end with which one is heavier and by how much.
And, you know, the the specs that Porsche gives out would have you say
would have you think the 991 dot one is actually quite a lot lighter.
But you can find out for real on that video, which will be coming up pretty soon.
Also, go check out the Gunther Works video that Bogdan filmed.
He doesn't get a lot of chances to film
longer form videos that are more than just a social media clip.
But he filmed this one in California with Voo.
It's a shop tour with unprecedented access to what the founder,
Peter Nam, giving the tour. Yeah, it was very cool.
Yeah, he's a very busy man, but we are all the he was happy to give us a tour
and let us film it.
And I think we got it most everything except how they lay out their carbon fiber.
He just said you didn't want to put that on film because that's still proprietary.
How do you do that? Yeah.
But he wanted to show us.
He said, because people always think I get my bodies from China.
He could put their mate right here in California.
And we got to see it in person to see how they do it.
But most everything else is covered in this video.
That's yeah. And it's people loving it.
So jump on the bandwagon and watch.
Let's push those views up.
I think 25,000 people have already watched it and it's going up.
So one of our more popular videos.
So if you want any PCA inside of swag, you can go to the PCA Web Store.org
where you can find a mug, a water bottle, a t-shirt.
If you want free stucco decals, we have inside and outside decals.
Just send it to podcast at PCA.org.
Please include your name and mailing address.
Just don't put on there.
Give me stickers.
We can't read your mind of where you live.
So you can put on there.
Give me stickers, but then put your name and mailing address
where you want to send us and and they're free as well.
Well, Holly, I had to tell you, this was this was a lot of fun.
And I'm sure people who went to the parade,
tours are going to listen into this to hear the behind the scenes
of what it took to to pull off all those tours for four days straight.
Yeah, let me let me give you a couple of numbers just to blow your mind here.
And 2000 and 24 there were 1400
and 22 tours overall of PCA.
And 2025 that grew to 1600 and 56
Wow, just a couple of hundred and just a couple of years.
Yeah, this so far this year for the first six months, we've had 900 and two.
That puts us on track to blow last year's number out of the water again.
Wow. So yeah.
And the biggest region, the zone, the zone that does the most
driving tours is zone six. Wow.
As of last year, it tells zone two to get their button gear.
I thought my region did a lot, but I didn't realize those six was that.
But this is yet another reason like we talked about.
If you're looking for an excuse or reason to come out
and do something with your local region, with your Porsche,
Santa for tour, no pressure.
It's not competitive.
It's simply bring your car out and enjoy the drive.
Exactly. Get to meet people, have a little fun together
and enjoy the day and have a great meal and, you know,
wait for the next one to come up.
And you'll become maybe a group leader, then the region driving towards
Sharon and maybe the national driving towards here one day.
There you go.
There you go.
Like you said, volunteering is half the fun.
And I believe that a hundred percent.
Well, thanks again, Holly.
I'll close out.
Thanks for listening.
Be sure to like, comment, subscribe and consider sharing our show
with fellow Porsche enthusiasts.
Until next time, stay safe and we'll see you on the road.
About this episode
Porsche Club Insider breaks down why Porsche Club of America driving tours have become so popular with members. The show highlights the national driving tour chair’s logistics, the push for “standards, not guidelines,” and the safety-first philosophy that keeps speed on the track. Tours feel social and welcoming—members arrive early, meet across regions, and even get curated destinations. Behind the scenes, organizers coordinate run groups, volunteers, insurance, routes, and contingencies like breakdowns, rain, and limited cell service.
Original notes
In this episode, PCA National Tours Chair Holly Jackson joins the podcast to take us behind the scenes! Discover how PCA keeps its driving tours safe, fun, and highly engaging for members. Tours are one of PCA’s most popular events, and their massive appeal takes center stage every single year at the annual Porsche Parade. Holly shares exactly how the Driving Tour Committee maintains these elite event standards across both the United States and Canada.
Porsche Club Insider
Porsche Club of America
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